in any part of the line, nor fewer than two if any. And, 34, Two long fyllables which have been preceded by two fhort, cannot alfo be followed by two short. These few rules fulfil all the conditions of a Hexameter line, with relation to order or a rangement. To the fe again a single rule may be fubflituted, for which I have a ftill greater relifh, as it regulates more affirmatively the construction of every part. That I may put this rule into words with the greater facility, I take a hint from the twelve long fyllables that compofe an Hexameter line to divide it into twelve equal parts or portions, being each of them one long fyllable or two thort. A portion being thus defined, I proceed to the rule. The 1t, 3d, 5th, 7th, 9th, 11th, and 12th portions, muft each of them be one long fyllable; the 10th muit always be two fhort fyllables; the 21, 4th, 6th, and 8th, may indifferently be one long or two fhort. Or to exprefs the thing till more curtly, The 2d, 4th, 6th, and 8th portions may be one long fyllable or two fhort; the 10th must be two fhort fyllables; all the reft nuft confift each of one long fyllable This fulfils all the conditions of an Hexameter line, and comprehends all the combinations of Dactyles and Spondees that this line admits.

Next in order comes the paufe. At the end of every Hexameter line, no ear but must be fenfible of a complete clofe or full paufe; the cause of which follows. The two long fyllables preceded by two fhort, which always close an Hexameter line, are a fine preparation for a paufe: the reafon is, that long fyllables, or fyllables pronounced flow, refembling a flow and languid motion tending to reft, naturally incline the mind to reft,

or,

roic verfe. Confidering its compofition merely, it is of two kinds; one compofed of five Lambi; and one of a Trochæus followed by four lambi: but thefe feet afford no rule for pronouncing; the mufical feet being obvicully thofe parts of the line that are interjected between two paules. To bring out the melody, these feet muit he expreffed in the pronunciation; or, which comes to the fame, the pronunciation must be directed by the paufes, without regard to the Iambus or Trochæus.

If this paufe, placed as aforefaid after the fhort fyllable, happen alfo to divide a word, the melody by thefe circumstances is totally annihilated: witnefs the following line of Ennius, which is plain profe:.

Romæ mania terruit impiger | Hannibal armis.

Hitherto the arrangement of the long and fhort fyllables of an Hexameter line and its different paufes, have been confidered with refpect to melody: but to have a just notion of Hexameter verfe, thefe particulars must alfo be confidered with refpect to fenfe. There is not

perhaps in any other fort of verfe, fuch latitude in the long and fhort fyllables; a circumftance that contributes greatly to that richness of melody which is remarkable in Hexameter verfe, and which made Ariftotle pronounce, that an epic poem in any other verfe would not fucceed*. One defect however muft not be diffembled, that the fame means which contribute to the richness of the melody, render it lefs fit than feveral other forts for a narrative poem. With regard to the melody, as above obferved, there cannot be a more artful contrivance than to close an Hexameter line with two long fyllables preceded by two fhort: but unhappily this conftruction proves a great embarrassment to the fenfe; which will thus be evident. As in general, there ought to be a ftrict concordance between the thought and the words in which it is dreffed; fo in particular, every clofe in the fenfe ought to be accompanied with a fimilar clofe in the found. In profe this law may be ftrictly observed; but in verfe the fame ftrictnefs would occafion infuperable difficulties: willing to facrifice to the melody of verfe, fome fhare of the concordance between thought and expreffion, we freely excufe the feparation of the mufical paufe from that of the fenfe, during the course of a line; but the close of an Hexameter line is too confpicuous to admit this liberty: for that reafon there ought always to be fome paufe in the fenfe at the end of every Hexameter line, were it but fuch a pause as is marked with a comma: and for the fame reafon, there ought never to be a full close in the fenfe but at the end of a line, because there the melody is clofed. An Hex

* Poet. cap. 25.

ameter

ameter line, to preferve its melody, cannot well admit any greater relaxation; and yet in a narrative poem, it is extremely difficult to adhere strictly to the rule even with these indulgences. Virgil, the chief of poets for verfification, is forc'd often to end a line without any clofe in the fenfe, and as often to close the fenfe during the running of a line: though a clofe in the melody during the movement of the thought, or a clofe in the thought during the movement of the melody, cannot be agreeable.

The accent, to which we proceed, is not lefs effential than the other circumstances above handled. By a good ear it will be difcerned, that in every line there is one fyllable diftinguishable from the reft by a capital accent that fyllable making the 7th portion, is invariably long; and in point of time occupies a place nearly at an equal distance from the paufe, which fucceeds the 5th portion, and the femipause, which fucceeds the 8th. Nec bene promeritis | capitûr necftangitur ira Again :

Non fibi fed toto || genitum fe credere mundo Again :

Qualis fpelunca | fubito commota columba

In thefe examples, the accent is laid upon the laft fyllable of a word; which is favourable to the melody in the following refpect, that the paufe, which for the fake of reading diftinctly muft follow every word, gives opportunity to prolong the accent. And for that reafon, a line thus accented, has a more fpirited air, than where the accent is placed on any other fyllable. Compare the foregoing lines with the following.

Alba neque Affyrio || fucâtur | lana veneno

Again:

Panditur interea | domus omnipotentis Olympi Again:

Olli fedato | refpondit | corde-Latinus

In lines where the paufe comes after the fhort fyllable fucceeding the 5th portion, the accent is difplaced, and rendered lefs fenfible: it feems to be felt its two, VOL. II.

D

and

and to be laid partly on the 5th portion, and partly on the 7th, its usual place; as in

Nuda genu, nodoque || finûs collecta fluentes Again:

Formofam refonâre || docês Amaryllida fylvas

Befide this capital accent, flighter accents are laid upon other portions; particularly upon the 4th, unless where it confifts of two fhort fyllables; upon the 9th, which is always a long fyllable; and upon the 11th, where the line concludes with a monofyllable. Such conclufion, by the by, impairs the melody, and for that reafon is not to be indulged unlefs where it is expreffive of the fenfe. The following lines are marked with all the accents.

Ludere quæ vêllem calamo permifit agrefti Again :

Et duræ quêrcus fudâbunt rófcida mella Again:

Parturiunt montes, nafcêtur ridiculus mus

Inquiring into the melody of Hexameter verfe, we foon discover, that order or arrangement doth not conftitute the whole of it; for when we compare different lines, equally regular as to the fucceffion of long and fhort fyllables, the melody is found in very different degrees of perfection, which is not occafioned by any particular combination of Dactyles and Spondees, or of long and fhort fyllables, because we find lines where Dactyles prevail and lines where Spondees prevail, equally melodious. Of the former take the following

'instance :

Eneadum genitrix hominum divumque voluptas.
Of the latter :

Molli paulatim flavefcet campus arifta.

What can be more different as to melody than the two following lines, which, however, as to the fucceffion of long and fhort fyllables, are conftructed precifely in the fame manner?

Spond. Dact. Spond. Spond. Dact. Spond.

Ad talos ftola dimiffa et circumdata palla.

Hor. Spond.

Lucret.

Spond. Dact. Spond. Spond. Dact, Spond. Placatumque nitet diffulo lumine cœlum. In the former, the paufe falls in the middle of a word, which is a great blemish, and the accent is difturbed by a harsh elifion of the vowel a upon the particle et. In the latter the paufes and the accent are all of them diftinct and full: there is no elifion: and the words are more liquid and founding. In these particulars confifts the beauty of an Hexameter line with refpect to melody; and by neglecting thefe, many lines in the Satires and Epiftles of Horace are lefs agreeable than plain profe; for they are neither the one nor the other in perfection to draw melody from thefe lines, they must be pronounced without relation to the fenfe, it must not be regarded, that words are divided by pauses, nor that harfh elifions are multiplied. To add to the account, profaic low-founding words are introduced; and which is ftill worse, accents are laid on them. Of fuch faulty lines take the following inftances.

Candida rectaque fit, munda hactenus fit neque longa.
Jupiter exclamat fimul atque audirit; at in se.
Cuftodes, lectica, ciniflones, parafitæ.

Optimus eft modulator, ut Alfenus Vafer omni.
Nunc illud tantum quæram, meritone tibi fit.

Next in order comes English Heroic verfe, which shall be examined under the whole five heads, of number, quantity, arrangement, paufe, and accent. This verfe

is of two kinds; one named rhyme or metre, and one blank verfe. In the former, the lines are connected two and two by fimilarity of found in the final fyllables; and two lines fo connected are termed a couplet: fimilarity of found being avoided in the latter, couplets are banifhed. These two forts must be handled feparately, because there are many peculiarities in each. Beginning with rhyme or metre, the first article fhall be difcuffed in a few words. Every line confifts of ten fyllables, five fhort and five long; from which there are but two exceptions, both of them rare. The firft is, where each line of a couplet is made eleven fyllables, by an additional fhort fyllable at the end :

There heroes' wits are kept in pond'rous vafes,
And beaus' in fnuff-boxes and tweezer cafes.